Religious studies grads off to China

By Janet Harron

A brand new scholarship is sending two Memorial University
religious studies graduates to China for the first time.

The purpose of the scholarship is to strengthen mutual
understanding and friendship between the Chinese people and those
in the wider world and to develop co-operation and exchange in the
fields of education, science, culture, economy and trade between
China and other countries.

It is facilitated by representatives from Memorial University and
the Department of Education of the Government of Newfoundland and
Labrador. Preference is given to students that have completed two
to three semesters of Introductory Chinese.

It is not a coincidence that both scholarship winners Megan Stacey
and Liam Bennett are graduates of the religious studies department
as Dr. Lee Rainey of that department has been offering courses in
Chinese language for several years now.

“As a teacher of Chinese language and a frequent visitor to
China, I am thrilled that this scholarship has been made available
to Memorial students. I wish Megan and Liam both the best of luck
as they embark on this adventure of a lifetime,” said Dr.
Rainey.

In an interview prior to leaving for China, Ms. Stacey attributed
her interest in China to growing up around the bay and the lack of
Chinese and Japanese people. “I’ve always been really
interested in different cultures,” said Ms. Stacey. After
starting off as an English major, Ms. Stacey became very interested
in her religious studies electives and after “doing really
bad in French” took her first course in Chinese Language with
Dr. Rainey.
Having graduated in May, Ms. Stacey was planning to go to Taiwan to
study languages before applying for a master’s in religious
studies when she received word about the scholarship.

She acknowledged that Dr. Rainey has been “an amazing
help” in terms of finding out about the scholarship
initially, advising of what to expect in China and what extra words
to memorize. Ms. Stacey also attributes her background as a
military reservist to being good preparation for the culture shock
that she knows awaits her.

Ms. Stacey will be attending Beijing Foreign Studies University in
the centre of Beijing, which is part of a cluster of universities
in the capital city. Her Mandarin skills? “Weak but existent
… I can get myself to the hotel and then on to the
university but I wouldn’t want to go shopping yet!”

As this is the first time the scholarship has been awarded, the
application process was fairly complicated from a logistical
perspective and included submitting hospital blood work, and
various other detailed information within a tight timeframe.

“Without all the help from Arch Hutchings (director of the
International Education Division in the provincial Department of
Education), Dr. Rainey, and my mom, I wouldn’t have been able
to go – there was a lot of collaboration involved,”
said Ms. Stacey.